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Man who allegedly threatened Obama will remain in federal custody

A 20-year-old Westminster man who told his therapist he wanted to shoot schoolchildren and kill the president is dangerous and must remain jailed, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kristen Mix's decision to deny bail for Mitchell Kusick came over objections from his attorney, who said he suffers severe bipolar disorder that would be better treated by a therapist outside the federal detention center in Englewood.

Attorney Marci Gilligan argued that electronic monitoring, a curfew and medical mental-health treatment would be sufficient for Kusick, who is charged federally with making threats against the president.

Authorities said Kusick made the statements during an Oct. 29 "emergency appointment" with his therapist and reiterated them to police while he was at a hospital on mental-health hold.

He said he wanted to kill children during a Halloween event at Standley Lake High School and hoped to gain infamy as "the guy who killed Obama."

He faces a misdemeanor count in state court related to the threats against the school.

"This is a very troubling case," Mix said. "It's clear to the court that the defendant suffers from mental illness, but it is mental illness that has not necessarily been controlled by medication."

Mix also ruled that the evidence against Kusick was sufficient to hold him for trial in U.S. district court.

Kusick's therapist alerted police after he confided that he had tried to steal a shotgun from his aunt and uncle's home to kill children at Standley Lake, where he would have "the biggest impact," U.S. Secret Service Agent Melissa Blake testified.

Kusick said he was thwarted at Walmart because he was too young to buy ammunition. His aunt discovered the weapon missing from its usual place and made him return it, the agent said, describing the therapist's notes.

Gilligan said other agents showed up at the hospital to question her client at 3:30 a.m.

Under her questioning, Blake said Kusick did not specify how or when he would kill the president, only that he had been monitoring his schedule and Colorado visits.

"This was not idle chatter. This was not a joke," Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hosley told the judge, noting Kusick's attempt to buy ammunition.

Agents searched the Kusick home and seized computers, phones and what Blake described as books about assassinations and magazines on guns and ammunition. The computers have yet to be thoroughly searched, but Kusick used them to research bomb-making, she said.

Gilligan described Kusick, who took online courses at Colorado Mesa University, as a good student with no criminal past but a long battle with mental illness for which he has agreed to seek help.

She suggested that the Prozac he had been recently prescribed could have contributed to his behavior.

Kusick remained hospitalized for a week. He then surrendered to Jefferson County authorities to face the state charge. He was released on $10,000 bond Nov. 8 and arrested again by the secret service the same day.